Saving Centsably: Savings Catcher app with BlueBird card

If you’ve been using the WalMart Savings Catcher application that I wrote about a few months ago, hopefully you have been able to accumulate quite a balance. While the savings can “sit” in your account waiting on you to “cash-out,” there are some benefits to completing the cash-out process in the next few days.

First, let me remind you how the Savings Catcher app works. You’ll need to join the Savings Catcher program by loading the app onto your smart phone. Then, make a purchase at Wal-Mart. Scan your receipt, and then wait for the money to roll in. Well -- maybe it trickles in, but it can add up. Wal-Mart uses sales aggregators and search engines to determine whether there are cheaper prices for those same items that you purchased at any store within a certain distance.

I have read online about stores within a 50-mile radius being used. Even if you live in a more rural area and shop at Wal-Mart, if you are close to a larger city you can benefit from lower prices at those stores through the savings catcher program.

Wal-Mart will deposit those savings amounts into your savings catcher account. If you choose to cash-out on a Wal-Mart e-gift card, you will receive the exact amount in your savings catcher account. But there are ways to increase the amount you have saved simply by changing how you receive your savings.

Never miss a local story.

Sign up today for unlimited digital access to our website, apps, the digital newspaper and more.

Back in December, Wal-Mart announced that for all transactions through Feb. 28, the savings you would normally receive would be doubled if the “cash-out” balance was placed on a Bluebird card. So what is a Bluebird card? Bluebird is not only a card, it is a whole financial system for helping people save and manage money. Bluebird is a product of American Express, and it seems that rolling the Savings Catcher savings onto a Bluebird card is just one of the products they offer.

If you choose to take full advantage of Bluebird, you can set up direct deposit, write checks from your Bluebird account, use a mobile check deposit feature, and pay bills online. You can find out more about these features by visiting the Wal-Mart website and then clicking the Savings Catcher app for information.

Bluebird claims to have no hidden fees and offers no monthly fees and no overdraft fees and does not require that you maintain a minimum balance on your Bluebird card or in your account.

Be sure that you treat this Bluebird account card carefully. While some people might choose to bank their savings on the card to save for Christmas or another special occasion, others may use it regularly, depleting their savings to pay for other groceries. There is not really a right or wrong way to use this card. But just as with any debit or credit card, thieves will come to see these Bluebird cards as valuable. You need to guard this card carefully (and keep up with it) just as you would any other source of money.

Remember that if you are looking to double your savings, you will need to convert your Savings Catcher total to a Bluebird card by Feb. 28!